A minute’s silence will be held across the UK later to commemorate the key workers who have died with coronavirus.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who returned to work on Monday, will join the tribute, which starts at 11:00 BST.
More than 100 NHS and care staff have died with the virus, as have many transport and other key workers.
It comes as the son of a doctor who died called on the government to issue a public apology for issues with personal protective equipment (PPE).
Intisar Chowdhury told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he wanted ministers “to accept their mistakes and let their mistakes become improvement rather than just ignore them and completely move on”.
“I think we can forgive that as a country because it is such an unprecedented thing it is hard to know what to do,” he said.
“But they need to hold themselves accountable for that, learn from that and move on so that we can trust them more.”
The 18-year-old also asked the government to make private apologies to the families of health and care workers affected.
Intisar’s father, Dr Abdul Mabud Chowdhury, 53, who died earlier this month, had warned Prime Minister Boris Johnson about a lack of PPE before being hospitalised.
A BBC Panorama investigation has found the government failed to buy enough PPE to cope with a pandemic.
There were no gowns, visors, swabs or body bags in the government’s pandemic stockpile when Covid-19 reached the UK, the programme reported.
Government minister Victoria Atkins told BBC Breakfast she was “very, very sorry to hear” of the Panorama report.
“Like every other country in the world, [the virus] is unprecedented and the requirements for PPE have risen exponentially and we’re doing our absolute best to address those needs and will continue to do so,” she said.
She added that, since the outbreak began, “a billion pieces of PPE” have been distributed across the UK.
The latest daily figures show a further 360 people died with the virus in UK hospitals, taking the total number of deaths to 21,092.
This number includes 82 NHS staff and 16 care workers who were confirmed to have died in hospital in England. A separate BBC News analysis of published figures found that at least 113 health workers have died with the virus across the UK.
Latest statistics for community coronavirus deaths – for example in care homes, or people who have died in their own homes – will be released later.
‘Tremendous debt’
The minute’s silence for health care workers who have died would ensure their “contribution is remembered and appreciated”, NHS England medical director Stephen Powis said.
Chief nursing officer Ruth May added: “Every death is a tragedy but we feel the loss of fellow health and care workers particularly keenly.”
A flag is to be flown at half mast at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which will be among many medical venues around the country where staff will pause to pay their respects to their colleagues.
Dame Donna Kinnair, chief executive and general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said the minute’s silence “will bring together a sombre but grateful nation”.
She added: “This must not be the last time that sacrifice is recognised. The country and its leaders owe a tremendous debt to these key workers and the many more who are on shift again today.”
Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer said too many front-line workers had lost their lives, adding: “We owe it to them to make sure they’ve got the right equipment, in the right place, at the right time.”
On Monday, the government announced that families of front-line NHS and social care staff who died with the virus in England would receive a £60,000 compensation payment.
Prerana Issar, NHS chief people officer, said that NHS England was considering how to formally commemorate all those who had died while working to care for others once the health service was through the peak of the virus.
Transport for London said the underground and bus network would be brought to a halt for the silence as the workforce honoured its colleagues, with passengers being asked to join in.
In other developments:
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said treatments including cancer care and mental health support were being prioritised
There has been a rise in the number of people applying to work for the NHS, with 407,000 applications submitted last month – an increase of 13,500 on the same month last year
Ministers are facing competing demands from councils across England for a £1.6bn emergency coronavirus fund
The number of prisoners believed to have been infected with coronavirus may be up to six times as many as the published figure, according to a Public Health England report
Millions of furloughed workers are being offered free online courses in digital skills by the Department for Education
Source: BBC
